Labrunie Named Big West Men’s Tennis Player of the Week

History Ties IRVINE, Calif. — University of Hawaii men’s tennis player Axel Labrunie has earned his first career Big West Player of the Week award after helping lead the Rainbow Warriors to four straight wins on the road last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Labrunie went a perfect 4-0 in doubles with partner Kilian Maitre while going 2-0 in singles.

UH’s pair of No. 2 doubles, Labrunie and Maitre, mowed down their opponents last week. The French duo started the week with a 6-2 victory over UNLV’s Anton Ornberg and Jackson Atherton, 6-2, then shut out Daniel Velek and Ryan Huynh of UC Riverside, 6-0 to complete their double of the friday. Labrunie and Maitre followed with a 6-2 win over Weber State’s Jordan Coutinho and William Zulch.

Against New Mexico State, Labrunie won both the doubles point and later the game. Labrunie and Maitre edged Corey Clarke and Roko Stipetic of New Mexico State in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5) to capture the doubles point as UH took a 1-0 lead. Playing on the No. 2 court, Labrunie then beat NMSU’s Jordy Visser in straight sets to seal the win, 6-4, 6-2. Labrunie’s other singles win was a 6-1, 6-3 win over UNLV’s Dabic Milos at No. 2.

After starting the season 0-3 against top teams, Hawai’i completely swung the dynamic pendulum in the opposite direction by winning all four matches last week to register an overall record of 4-3.

The Rainbow Warriors won two of the first three Big West Player of the Week honors for 2023 as Andre Ilagan took home the award in Week 1.

2023 Big West Player of the Week winners
André Ilagan – January 18, 2023
Axel Labrunie – February 1, 2023

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